Vehicle seat assembly with automatically movable arm rest

Abstract

An adjusting mechanism is disclosed for automatically raising the arm rest of a vehicle front seat assembly when the seat back is tilted forward to permit ingress to and egress from the back seat of a two door motor vehicle. In one embodiment a solid link is attached to the arm rest and to the seat cushion to exert an upward force on the arm rest as the seat back is moved forward. In two other embodiments, a cable attached to the arm rest and to the seat cushion is provided which exerts an upward force on the arm rest as the tension in the cable increases when the seat back is rotated forward. In one embodiment, a spring is used to maintain the tension in the cable at a predetermined level.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A seat assembly for a motor vehicle comprising: a seat cushion having front and rear ends;   a seat back having upper andlower ends and extending upwardly in an upright position from said seat cushion adjacent said rear end thereof, means pivotally supporting the lower end of said seat back on said seat cushion such that said seat back can be pivotally moved forwardly from said upright position toward a forwardly inclined position;   an arm rest having a forward end and a rearward end, an arm rest pivot member pivotally connecting the rearward end of said arm rest to said seat back at a position between said upper and lower ends of said seat back, said arm rest having an operative position extending forwardly from said seat back and said arm rest being pivotable from said operative position to a raised position along side said seat back;   means operatively associated with said arm rest for pivotally raising said arm rest from said operative position toward said raised position as said seat back is pivoted from an upright position toward said forwardly inclined position, said raising means including cam means adjacent said arm rest pivot member, said cam means having an arcuate cam surface above and rearward of said arm rest pivot member, and a cable attached at one end to said seat cushion at a predetermined attachment point and attached at the opposite end to said arm rest at a position forwardly of said cam means and said arm rest pivot member, said cable extending over and behind said cam surface and engaging said cam surface at a location rearwardly of said arm rest pivot member, said one end of said cable being attached to said seat cushion at a location relative to said seat back pivotal support means such that as said seat back is pivoted from said upright position toward said forwardly inclined position, the distance between said predetermined cable attachment point and the location of engagement of said cable with said cam surface is increased, thereby increasing tension in said cable, said opposite end of said cable being attached to said arm rest at a location such that the tension in said cable acts upon said arm rest to create a moment about said arm rest pivot member in a direction to pivot said arm rest from said operative position toward said raised position and   spring means operatively associated with said cable for maintaining sufficient tension in the cable to avoid slack in the cable when said arm rest is in said raised position.